Phase one: Getting the job you want

Quit your job and freelance

STEP 1: Can you handle it? Ah, the pleasures of the freelance life: avoiding the dreary commute, cherry-picking your projects and weeping over A Baby Story at 2 in the afternoon. But before you send your boss that “Go eff yourself!” e-mail, consider the financial security, social interaction and health insurance your current nine-to-five affords you, and compare any office hell with the stress of, say, not being able to pay rent. Still ready to trade in the watercooler for an empty fridge? Then proceed with cautious optimism. Sara Horowitz, executive director of the Freelancers Union, says, “Find what you love to do. Freelance isn’t always easy, but it can be very fulfilling.”

STEP 2: Get ready to go it alone. Preparing for your future dream no-job while still earning a paycheck will make it less likely that you’ll have to temp or, worse, get bailed out by Mom and Dad when your first six months prove fiscally disastrous. “Build yourself up before you quit,” says Michelle Goodman, author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide and the upcoming My So-Called Freelance Life. “Squirrel away as much money as you can. Ideally, you’ll have enough to cover your start-up costs, like a new computer and Internet service, as well as six months of living expenses.”

STEP 3: Test the waters. Meanwhile, take projects you can fit into your off-hours (sologig.com and freelanceswitch.com both list job ops). Remember, doing freelance business on company time—and on the company’s computer, phone or stationery—is tantamount to stealing from the supply closet, so do it at your own risk. “Your cubicle is not your freelance HQ,” says Goodman. “Go on a ‘cigarette break,’ and take your cell phone out of the building to make freelance calls.” Better to wake up a couple hours early or use your lunch hour to complete those tasks; at the very least, keep your freelance-related e-mails on your personal BlackBerry. Leave the daily grind on good terms, and you could even parlay your employer into your first client on a consultancy or by-project basis.

STEP 4: Be a tough boss. Once you’ve said sayonara to your former coworkers, it’s time to make freelance your full-time job. That means 40 hours a week, same as every other desk jockey works. “It’s easy to piddle away the entire day,” says Goodman. “No, you won’t have a Monday morning staff meeting to go to, but you will be responsible for more accounting—filing taxes, submitting and paying invoices—that you won’t get paid for and will take up about 25 percent of your time.”

STEP 5: Sell your mad skills. Hustling is part of the job too. Besides advertising, you can improve your chances of landing paying gigs by meeting the right people—in other words, your so-called competition. “Meet other freelancers as soon as possible,” Goodman says. “They’re your best chance for referrals. They won’t give you their client lists, but it’s possible they’ll have spillover work that they can pass on to you. Word of mouth is far superior to online listings for jobs.”

STEP 6: Find your community. “Get out of your house and out of your pajamas,” says Horowitz. “Your network is good for support—and to help you through a dry spell.” Lucky for you, NYC is a haven for employer-free types, especially in the finance, advertising, nonprofit, health and media industries, with focused resource providers and networking groups. Seek out Listservs, associations and other communities specific to your chosen field, for events, newsletters and job-posting boards. Avail yourself of the workshops, parties and other offerings (health insurance, namely) of organizations like the Freelancers Union (freelancersunion.org), which also advocates for independent workers’ (i.e., your) rights. And if leaving the apartment ceases to be an option, check out biznik.com, a social-networking site for self-employed stiffs just like you.

—Matt Schneiderman

Employment in numbers

2,200 new jobs in computer systems design
The past year saw a huge surge—you've only got to visit the Meatpacking District and find all those Google workers wandering around to see the 5.1 percent growth in this sector.

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